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Jurors in Cosby’s sex-assault trial start deliberations

After just six minutes, U.S. comedian Bill Cosby’s legal team in his high-profile sexual assault trial rested their case. “It’s criminal”, the district attorney Kevin Steele said. Cosby did not take the stand.In his argument, McMonagle emphasized that Cosby consistently portrayed the encounter as consensual. Last week, police detectives read aloud his statements to police in 2005 and in his civil deposition in 2006 responding to the allegations.Each of the three counts carries a sentence range of 5 to 10 years in prison.He said Constand told police in her first interview that she had never been alone with Cosby before the alleged attack, but later admitted she had spent time alone with him at his home and at a CT casino resort.As if to show that he, too, was disappointed in Mr Cosby – and perhaps offer the jury the catharsis of a public shaming – Mr McMonagle pointed at his client and declared angrily, “You danced outside your marriage”.The jury of seven men and five women were bused in from Allegheny County near Pittsburgh and have been sequestered in a hotel for the trial. Tuesday begins the first full day of jury deliberations.After the prosecution took five days to outline its side, the defense case consisted of just one witness – a detective – and six minutes of testimony Monday.”I want you to think about the courage Andrea Constand has had doing what she had to do”, he urged the jury. He said the encounter occurred in 1990, while Johnson insists it was 1996, the year she left her job.”Put them down, they’re your friends”. He gave her no choice in this matter. Why? He says Constand was stressed so he told her, “I have three friends for you to make you relax”.She became incapacitated and felt “frozen” and told him so, she testified. Cosby lowered and shook his head in the courtroom as she spoke.Since beginning deliberations on Monday afternoon, jurors have asked to hear some of Cosby’s prior statements, including his description of the pills he gave Constand prior to the alleged attack.Defense attorneys argued that the sexual contact was part of a consenting relationship between Cosby and Constand.But Steele said it’s no accident that some of Constand’s memories are faulty.If Cosby testifies, and denies drugging and molesting Constand or anyone else, the judge might allow more accusers to testify as rebuttal witnesses. In criminal trials, the onus is on prosecutors to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and defendants are not required to take the stand.The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission, which Constand has done. They hammered home the point that she doesn’t know just when it happened, and they questioned why she had regular phone contact with Cosby later that spring.Judge O’Neill rejected a request to call the defence’s second witness, a woman who worked with Ms Constand at Philadelphia’s Temple University, where Ms Cosby met the accuser.Constand said she was “mistaken” when she made those statements to police.Phone records showed she made no such call in January, he said, and instead show she only called Cosby’s phone numbers in NY. “This is talking to a lover”, McMonagle said of one phone call that lasted 49 minutes. Steele reminded jurors that a psychologist had testified that victims of sexual trauma often have trouble recalling every detail. “If you have sexual relations with someone when they’re asleep, unconscious, that’s a crime”, Steele said. He showed jurors copies of deposition transcripts and police interviews in which Cosby admitted to giving Constand a dose of Benadryl, an over-the-counter allergy medication he uses as a sleep aid, and discussing his sexual preferences.The jury at Cosby’s trial began deliberating Monday over whether he drugged and molested a woman more than a decade ago in a case t.She sued Cosby after prosecutors declined to press charges in 2005.She said Cosby gave her three pills and wine before touching her breasts, putting his fingers in her vagina and putting her hand on his erect penis after she sought his advice about moving to Canada and switching careers.The trial will now move to the closing arguments phase.Cosby has previously arrived at the Montgomery County Courthouse with various celebrities from the world of entertainment.Cosby testified over a decade ago as part of her lawsuit, eventually settling the case for an undisclosed sum.Other actors have joined on other trial days, including two appearances by Joe Torry. It’s also the first day a family member has accompanied him to court. His daughters have not done so. Wyatt said on Friday that Camille Cosby continued to support him, despite the accusations of assault from dozens of women.McMonagle told the jury that Cosby’s freedom is at stake now, not just his finances. “What are you going to say?”